2 Nobel Laureates Join Blockchain Research Firm's Advisory Board

Two Nobel prize-winning economists joined the advisory board of Blockchain research firm and accelerator Cryptic Labs.

Announcing their appointment, Cryptic Labs said their addition to the Board will bolster the institute's mission to address the lack of blockchain industry expertise in incentive mechanisms, game theory and macro-economic policies.

Dr. Eric S. Maskin won a Nobel Economics Prize in 2007 for laying the foundations of mechanism design theory, and Sir Christopher Pissarides was awarded the 2010 Nobel Prize in Economics for his work in the economics of markets with frictions.

Dr. Maskin of Harvard University will focus on game theory and mechanism design, with an emphasis on how blockchain companies can guide user incentives at a company level, while Dr. Pissarides of the London School of Economics will provide expertise on macroeconomic trends.

They will join a team of experts in advising companies on industry solutions, ranging from blockchain infrastructure to artificial intelligence and networking, to guide them in their design processes and help assess their economics. The team is headed by Cryptic Labs' Chief Scientist Dr. Whitfield Diffie, the preeminent cryptographer who won the 2015 Turing Award.

Cryptic Labs is the second blockchain firm to avail the services of Nobel laureate. Blockchain startup Prysm Group had added Oliver Hart, who won the Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences in 2016, to its senior advisory board last month.